Two sides to every Patterson

By now, just about everyone who would care to do so has an opinion on Steve Patterson's now completed reign as president/general manger. Two guys who probably know as much about the situation as anyone (outside of the Trail Blazers organization that is) are John Canzano of The Oregonian and Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. Both have penned columns on the subject, so I thought I'd put together a compairson of the two articles, without comment, for your enjoyment.

Canzano: "Patterson fired so many people it felt like he was flipping pages in a magazine. He negotiated a kickback of Darius Miles' $150,000 fine, with interest, behind the backs of his coaching staff, then fumbled his way through the fallout. And he was at the center of the Rose Garden Arena bankruptcy fiasco, which cost Allen $100 million more than what it would have cost him to buy the building outright in the first place."

Eggers: "Patterson was hatchet man for many dozens of layoffs during the time he was in power, employees with a combined annual salary that might equal about what Allen spends on his yacht crew. We'll never know whose idea that was, nor the ill-conceived notion to flutter the Rose Garden into bankruptcy. I'll guarantee you, though, that Patterson was not acting unilaterally.

You think he wouldn't rather have had 100-some more employees to try to keep the waning fan base from deserting?"

On the situation Steve Patterson inherited from Bob Whittsitt:

Canzano: "Let's see. Patterson's franchise finished with the worst record in the NBA a year ago, and the team was last in revenues. The value of the franchise, routinely among the top half of the league while Bob Whitsitt ran things, recently was placed last in the league by Forbes Magazine.

Eggers: "When he arrived in 2003, Patterson inherited a public-relations disaster from the much-despised Bob Whitsitt. Patterson and General Manager John Nash had little choice but to light a torch to a "Jail Blazer" roster that included Rasheed Wallace, Bonzi Wells, Jeff McInnis and Ruben Patterson.

By the time the clear-cutting was done, the Blazers had gone from competitive to the worst team in the NBA."

[snip]

"When Patterson took over, the Blazers were incurring a record $120 million annual loss. That figure was down to $45 million to $50 million last year - still deplorable, but moving in the right direction. Patterson was instrumental, too, in facilitating the letter of intent for Allen to buy back the Rose Garden for what will be less than full value from Portland Arena Management."

On the Darius Miles fine reimbursement:

Canzano: "Over lunch once, Patterson told me that giving Miles his money back was a mistake. He seemed to get it. And I asked him why, instead of apologizing to fans who surely would have forgiven him, he instead participated in that orchestrated halftime news conference -- the one in which Patterson scripted his speech with the words "smile" and "smile bigger" after his speech punch lines.

He just shrugged."

Eggers: When the document negotiating a kickback of Miles' $150,000 fine for insubordination surfaced in the media, it made Patterson look bad. And he compounded the problem with a woefully scripted halftime news conference. But the document was only a draft of a proposal from Miles' agent, Jeff Wechsler, that hadn't been signed.

In place of the fine, Patterson's idea was for Miles to help repair his image by buying $30,000 worth of tickets for five years to donate to children's charities. Miles wasn't going to, and didn't, get off the hook for the $150,000.

The likes of Patterson's proposal, incidentally, is not uncommon in the NBA - the Blazers had done the same thing with Damon Stoudamire's $250,000 fine after his third marijuana arrest.

On player personnel decisions:

Canzano: "Patterson can point to accomplishments, primarily players who perform better on the court and, for the most part, behave off it. But in the end, what we have here is a man who was unable to get out of his own way.

Insiders will tell you that it was Kevin Pritchard, then the player personnel director, and not Patterson who had primarily orchestrated the ambitious draft-day bonanza last June that resulted in an NBA-record six trades."
Eggers: "... the character issue had been addressed, and after what appears to be a remarkable 2006 draft - the combined effort of all those in the Portland front office, not just player personnel director Kevin Pritchard - the team appears headed in the right direction.

Darius Miles' bloated contract was Allen's idea, not Patterson's.

On drafting Martell Webster, rather than Chris Paul:

Canzano: "As Patterson spoke on Thursday, only one player peeked out from the weight room across the way -- Martell Webster. And Webster had every right to be interested, because there's a good chance it would have been Chris Paul peeking out of that room if Patterson hadn't overruled Pritchard two drafts ago."

Eggers: "Patterson never nixed the idea of drafting Chris Paul. It was a group decision to trade the third selection in the 2005 draft to Utah for the sixth pick (Martell Webster) and an additional first-round pick that wound up landing the Blazers' Jarrett Jack."

On Patterson's relationship with the media:

Canzano: "And those in the know say Patterson gagged Pritchard from talking to the media at various junctures, to ensure the flow of credit moved toward the top."

Eggers: "Initially, at least, Patterson brought about a detente with media turned off and tuned out by Whitsitt. Patterson's relationship with the media deteriorated, though, capped by the short-lived decision late last season to have public-relations employees tape all interviews for use on the team's Web site.

The Blazers' ex-president recently placed a media gag order on Pritchard, among other personnel, saying comments were to come from him. That made it appear Patterson was jealous of the credit Pritchard was getting for the 2006 draft."

In conclusion:

Canzano: "Everyone kept trying to sift through Thursday's wreckage and make sense of it. Sad day for the franchise? Happy day? I don't think we'd be wondering about it had the guy in charge not alienated everyone with his personality.

What Patterson never really wrapped his head around, was that Blazers fans wanted to believe all along. That all they needed to reconnect wasn't a phony pledge, politics, or promises. What they needed to believe again, was hope.

He's finally given it to them. "
Eggers: "The Blazer franchise is in better shape than it was when Patterson hit the scene in 2003. That doesn't make him a genius or a saint. But let's not send him out of here wearing a dunce cap, with a "kick me" sign taped to his derriere."